Naomi's Reading Palace: September 2012

Stacking the Shelves/Sunday Post #4

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I received Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent in the post this week. Believe it or not I have every book in this series so far, BUT HAVE NOT READ ONE YET!! I really love Rachel’s writing, so I know once I start reading them I’ll want to continue to the next one. I am thinking of starting them just before the release of the final book in the series, With All My Soul, comes out in March 2013!!

Anyway, this is all I received this week.....

Paperback from The Book Depository

Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

eBook I’ve been hanging for

Down To You by M Leighton

eBooks From Authors for Review

The Athena Effect by Derrolyn Anderson

Qeya by Jennifer Silverwood

That’s it for Stacking the Shelves this week, what did you get?

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news and to post a recap of the past week on your blog, showcase some books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up in your blog for the week ahead.

OMG!! School holidays are here.... Kids are driving me mad... but somehow I have found time to read and blog!! Here’s what is happening!

This past week on the blog I shared:

Monday- Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Tuesday- Book Tour/Review: Redemption by T.R. Turner

Teaser Tuesdays #9 - Redemption by Susannah Sandlin

Wednesday- WOW # 7 - Wicked Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Thursday- Release Day Blitz: Shallow by Georgia Gates

Swoon Thursday # 9- Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Friday- Feature & Follow Friday

Saturday- Review: He Came For Me by Carolyn Brown

This week there will be:

Monday- Release Day: Only In Her Dreams

Tuesday- Review: Redemption by Susannah Sandlin

Wednesday- Waiting On Wednesday

Thursday- Swoon Thursday

Friday- Blog Tour/Review: Absolution by Susannah Sandlin

Saturday- Blog Tour/Review: Sharp Change by Milly Taiden

What did you receive this week? What’s happening in your neck of the woods? I’d love to know!!

Naomi

Review: He Came For Me by Carolyn Brown

Title: He Came For Me

Author: Carolyn Brown

Series: The Protector Series #1

Published: August 21^st 2011

Format: eBook supplied by author for review

Summary from Goodreads

Jazz, lives on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, in Queensland, Australia. She leads a normal teenage life busy with friends, TAFE College, a part time job as a waitress, surfing and searching for a boyfriend!
Until one day driving on her way to TAFE she is passed by a red Mazda Rx7. The driver holds her attention and as they both wait at a set of traffic lights to change to green, a sexual tension passes between them.
In the days that follow she finds that this guy moves into her life as she befriends him, his friends and family! But are Seb and his friends what they seem to be?

Attacks by groups of boys targeting girls Jazz's age are becoming noticed by the media. Eyewitnesses to the attacks state that these youths seem to possess abilities no normal human would be capable of. Is it drugs or is it something else?

Jazz finds that Seb, seems to be stalking her. What is his purpose? Is he really a friend or is he actually a foe?

A fantasy novel revolving around a love story between two young people, who should not by rights, come together. Crossing the dimensions of two worlds, this story embarks on a journey of love, duty and togetherness as the two young lovers fight to be together and keep each other safe. Overcoming many obstacles while fighting to protect one another this story will leave the reader intrigued and wondering what will happen next!

He Came For Me wasn’t a very face paced read, but I did enjoy it. It had a storyline that built slowly towards an intense ending. The Vampires in this story are from another dimension and are able to travel to earth using portals. It is an interesting twist to the normal Vampire stories that have already been told.

We follow the life of Jasmine “Jazz,” who is a normal girl in her late teens. She isn’t a very strong character in this story. She is a quiet girl who appears to be set in a routine- goes to TAFE, goes surfing, goes to work, home to bed. She seems to just float through her life and is unaware of the people that have been monitoring her throughout her whole life. She has some great friends who she has known since she started school and goes out on Friday nights like all single girls. One day as she is headed to TAFE she makes eye-contact with a boy in a red mazda who will change her life forever.

Seb has been on earth for two years and has always had an attraction to the girl he has been set to protect. He can no longer stay away from her and decides to modify the mission to get closer to her. He is a very confident person with a body to die for- a perfectly sculpted athletic body....yum!!

Watching these characters interact is fun to watch. You can see their connection getting stronger but Seb keeps some distance between himself and Jazz, and he doesn’t realise that he is upsetting her. Jazz is very timid and doesn’t confront him about it; instead she wallows in her own misery. But when Seb decides to commit to the relationship you can see her personality lift. She is a very accepting person too and takes the Vampire issue in without really dwelling on it too much.

He Came For Me! was a fun read and at the end of the book I could tell that Jazz’s character has changed. She will be stronger in the sequel, more confident and independent. It will be interesting to see how the story goes from here... I’m looking forward to what comes next.

If you go to Carolyn's website, you can get a copy of He Came For Me free from smashwords. Go to C.M.Browns WEBSITE to find out more!

But before you go, I wanted to share the Blurb from Book Two in The Protector Series, which was released this week!!

He Came For Mine!
Released 27th September 2012

Fending for herself for almost two years, Jazz begins to worry she will never see Sebastian again.

A new man enters her life, but what secrets does he hold?

Will Jazz learn to trust again?

~~~~

Sebastian discovers an ancient ritual which must be performed on the Chosen One's son before his first birthday, or he will die.

He returns to Earth to find Jazz in the arms of another man.

A man he knows very well.

A man he does not trust....

What do you think!! I’m looking forward to it!!

Carolyn is also holding a competition at her website for the release of He Came For Mine, where you could win a AMAZON GC! Head over and check it out HERE!!

Naomi

Feature & Follow #7

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

Here’s this week’s question:

What is the BIGGEST word you’ve seen used in a book lately – that made you stop and look it up? Might as well leave the definition & book too.

Actually, I will admit I was constantly checking BIG words when I started reading two years ago. I hadn’t read a book since I finished school and with the three children I am raising, I haven’t really needed big words as they are 7, 5 and 3! I haven’t had to check definitions very often lately and for the life of me I can’t remember the last word I checked or which book it was in!! (If I come across one today I will share it with you!)

What do you think?

What's your FF?

To play along visit Parajunkee & Alison Can Read.

Follow them, follow their Featured Blogs and then visit as many blogs as you can, posting your answer.

And don't forget to leave your link in the comments section below!

Naomi

Release Day: Shallow by Georgia Cates

Title: Shallow

Author: Georgia Cates

Series: A Going Under Novel #2

Published: September 21^st 2012

Blurb

Nick Hawke likes his car fast and his girls even faster. He blows through females quicker than his muscle car races down the drag strip in Collinsville and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Determined to avoid the devastation he has watched his father endure in the aftermath of his mother leaving, he believes there is no room in his life or his heart for a relationship lasting more than one night. He seeks happiness in things that won’t let him down...fast cars, parties and one night stands. To his absolute dismay, all of that changes when he unexpectedly runs into an old friend and is introduced to Payton Archer, the first girl he ever wanted for more than one night. There’s only one catch...she is completely immune to him and his smooth talking ways.

Payton Archer is looking for what Claire has with Jessie, but she has given up on finding it...at least until she leaves for college in the Fall because she is certain that is where she will find the perfect guy to fit into her perfect world. She plans on Summer being nothing but three uneventful months of fun, but it turns out to be anything but ordinary when Payton is introduced to Nick Hawke, one of Jessie’s old Collinsville friends. She is shocked by her immediate and intense attraction for “Hawke” because nothing about him is what Payton is looking for. Sure, he’s hot and sexy but he comes from Collinsville and that is definitely not on her list of prerequisites. Everything about him makes Payton’s heart speed because he is exciting and dangerous, but his fast car and the dangerous chances he takes isn’t what scares Payton the most...it’s the way Nick Hawke makes her feel every time he looks at her. Can Payton find that moment of total fearlessness and make the decision to leave the safe, shallow end of love to risk going under completely?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Author Bio

Georgia resides in rural Mississippi with her wonderful husband, Jeff, and their two beautiful daughters. She spent thirteen years as a labor and delivery nurse before she decided to pursue her dream of becoming an author.

Blood of Anteros, Book One in The Vampire Agápe Series, was her first novel and it was released in September 2011. She decided to briefly step away from the paranormal genre to try her hand at a young adult contemporary romance when she wrote Going Under, but returned to the paranormal romance platform to complete the second book in The Vampire Agápe Series, Blood Jewel.

Her current works in progress are Shallow (A Going Under Novel) which will release on September 27th and Blood Doll (The Vampire Agápe Series #3), to be released in January 2013.

Find Georgia on: Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

I am looking forward to reading this one!! I really like the cover and I must get my hands on Going Under (book 1) first!! The Shallow Blog Tour will stop here on November 28^th!

Naomi

Swoon Thursday # 9- Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

The fabulous girls over at YA Bound created this super HOT meme. Here's how it works.

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering.

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag #YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog! I want to know & so do the chicks at YABound!

This weeks Swoon comes from Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. I loved this book and I can’t wait for the next one in the series. I will have to get the novellas to tie me over!!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

He shook the hair out of his face. “I’m not interested in court ladies,” he said thickly, and kissed her. His mouth was warm, and his lips were smooth, and Celaena lost all sense of time and place as she slowly kissed him back. He pulled away for a moment, looked into her eyes as they opened, and kissed her again.

It was different this time—deeper, full of need. Her arms were heavy and light all at once, and the room twirled round and round. She couldn’t stop. She liked this— liked being kissed by him, liked the smell and the taste and the feel of him. His arm slipped around her waist and he held her tightly to him as his lips moved against hers. She put a hand on his shoulder, her fingers digging into the muscle that lay beneath. How different things were between them than when she’d first seen him in Endovier!

What do you think? For an assassin, she has a couple of guys eyeing her, will be interesting to see what happens next!!

Did you get swooned this week?

What did you think of mine?

Leave me a comment!

Naomi

Waiting On Wednesday # 7 - Wicked Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where I have the chance to spotlight an upcoming release that I’m eagerly anticipating.

This week I scrolled though my read list to see what I would be looking forward to after reading the first book in the series. I came across Dark Kiss, book 1 in Michelle Rowens Nightwatchers series. I really enjoyed book I and am looking forward to the next one:

Wicked Kiss - Nightwatchers #2 by Michelle Rowen

Expected Publication – February 26^th 2013

Summary from Goodreads

MY KISS CAN KILL.

I used to be ordinary Samantha Day, but that's changed. Now, after one dark kiss from a dangerous boy, I can steal someone's soul...or their life. If I give in to the constant hunger inside me, I hurt anyone I kiss. If I don't...I hurt myself.

Bishop is the one whose kiss I crave most, but if I kiss him, I'll kill him. Then there's another boy, one I can't hurt. One whose kiss seems to miraculously quell my hunger. They're both part of a team of angels and demons that's joined forces in my city to fight a mysterious rising darkness, an evil that threatens everyone I know and love. I just wonder if I'll be able to help Bishop-or if I'm just another part of the darkness he's sworn to destroy....

NIGHTWATCHERS

When angels and demons must work together, something beyond evil is rising...

What do you think?? I love both covers of these books and February can’t get here soon enough!!

What are you waiting for? Please leave it in a comment below or leave me your WoW link so I can check out yours too!!

Have a great Wednesday!!

Naomi

Book Tour/Review: Redemption by J.R. Turner

Welcome to my stop on the Redemption book tour which has been brought to you by Bewitching Book Tours. Here you can read a summary of the book, my review and learn a little more about the author J.R. Turner. Don't forget to visit the other blogs on this tour for more information about this book and the author.

Title: Redemption

Author: J.R. Turner
Published: June 25th 2012
Format: eBook – received for Book Tour

Book Description

Half-angel Savannah Mantas smells the sulfuric stench of wrath when it enters her city, Iron Point. Resurrected by the archangel Michael, she’s hunting for redemption and half-demon Nico Montenegro is her prey. He comes from the Fringes, the border between the city and the toxic wasteland beyond. When they meet, Nico tells her a story, one of genocide and confiscated bodies. Not revenge, but justice is his purpose and his target is the most admired family in the world–Commander Hathaway and his daughter.

Hathaway’s soldiers are slaughtering Fringers and secretly feeding them to Revenants, mutants who survived the bio-bombing of 2120. They have a twisted idea they can train these clever creatures like dogs and keep them out of the city long enough to mobilize an evacuation for the wealthy and well-connected. Savannah knows better. Revenants are what killed her. When they attack, the last of humankind may be wiped out completely. Stopping Hathaway might just be enough to gain her redemption and escape a hellish fate.

OMG!! What an astounding book!! I loved every second of reading Redemption, right to the very last word!! I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through. I loved the way J.R Turner wrote the story, where over the first 16 chapters we jump from past to present as we find out what happened to Savvy (Savannah) to turn her into the Half-Angel/Human and put her on the path for Redemption.

The whole story is action packed, right from the start when we meet Savvy on the hunt for Nico. From their first encounter we can see there is an attraction between them, but they can never act on it as Demons and Angels don’t mix. They make an unlikely pair as they decide to work together to help the city in this time of turmoil.

Savvy is an awesome heroine, one of the best I’ve read about for a while. She has always been an independent woman trying to make her own way in this world affected by biotoxins. She has always wanted to be in the front lines trying to make a difference. She is a witty character always looking for the brighter sides of things, but takes her work very seriously.

Nico is a dreamy half-demon/human and I fell for him from the very start. He is very direct with Savvy and unsettles her from the first time they meet. He may be a demon but you can see he has good intentions. As we learn more about him and the circumstances of him becoming a demon, I loved him even more.

The chemistry between Savvy and Nico is amazing. Savvy has been on her own for two years now and is very uncertain of this male and the feelings that he is unleashing in her. It is fun to see them sort through these emotions as well as trying to save the people around them.

Redemption was a powerful read and there were a couple of times where I was quite emotional while reading, but mostly I was laughing and waiting for the next fight scene. Iron Point is only one city on the planet, so will Savvy save it and move onto the rest of the world in the next book?……I can’t wait to find out!!

Purchase Links:

Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle / Createspace

About the Author:

J.R. Turner is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Writers Association. She writes in a variety of genres including middle-grade adventures, young adult horror, romantic suspense, horror, military action, and urban fantasy. In her spare time she enjoys arts and crafts, traveling, and movies. Few things in life compare to her passion for the written word, except perhaps the pursuit of chocolate.

You can stalk J.R. Turner here-

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